Dear Bugaboo

A Dollar

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"Will that be all?" Fu asked, handing over a brown paper bag to Adrien. The blonde took the bag into his grasp and smiled kindly.

"Yes, and thank you for the assistance," Adrien replied, putting five dollars in the tip jar. Fu nodded as he watched the boy walk out of the shop and was soon rejoined with the frantic bluenette, who was much calmer now.

"Did you find what you were looking for, miss?" The old man asked. Marinette sheepishly smiled and placed a red mask onto the countertop.

"Yeah, and I'm sorry for my crazy entrance from earlier. I should've been more thoughtful," Marinette apologized to the shopkeeper. Fu chuckled as he placed the mask with a brown bag.

"That will be a dollar," Fu said. The teen opened her purse and began to dig through a mess of things inside. She raised an eyebrow searching her small purse again but only found a penny she found on the floor one day.

Alya dubbed it "Marinette's lucky charm." Since the coin was heads up, Alya told her friend she needed all the luck she could get with her clumsiness. So, Marinette kept the penny in her purse as a joke. Yet, there was so much luck Marinette could get as she realized she didn't have no more money than the worthless "lucky" penny.

Just as the bluenette was about to break the bad news, a bell jingled as someone entered the costume shop. Fu and Marinette looked over at the door. Adrien had re-entered the shop and shut the door behind him.

"Do you mind if I stay in here for a bit until my driver gets here? It's starting to get a little chilly out," Adrien asked. The old man nodded his head in approval before facing the bluenette.

   "I—um, I don't have enough money to buy the mask. I forgot it at home," Marinette admitted, shamefully and looked down at her shoes. She slumped, feeling like an idiot for not going home to get some money before running around Paris to get a mask. Then once she finally found a shop with a nice red mask, it was all for nothing.

   "I'm so lame!" Marinette thought, picturing the shop owner's face wrinkled in annoyance and anger. Yet, Fu wasn't angry or annoyed at all. He wasn't even looking at the ashamed bluenette but glancing over to see Adrien pause in his tracks.

The blonde teen didn't mean too but overheard their conversation. He turned around to look at the distressed girl, not noticing the sly gleam within Fu's eyes. Fu held back a grin when Adrien walked over.

"How much?"  Adrien asked, generously offering to pay for whatever the girl bought. Marinette shot her head up, bluebell eyes wide in astonishment. She frantically waved her hands around and shook her head, saying, "N-No, you don't n-need to do that! It's my f-fault for forgetting t-to bring money!"

   "One dollar," Fu answered, the two men ignoring Marinette. Adrien dug into his pocket and pulled out a dollar.

   "Y-You seriously don't need t-to buy anything for m-me," Marinette protested, feeling guilty that this kind boy was paying for her mask.

   "It's alright. I want too," The blonde replied, handing the dollar to the shop owner. Fu retrieved the money and handed the bag over to a stunned Marinette. The bluenette took the bag before facing the kind boy that paid for her. After getting a better look, she found the blonde to be quite handsome and felt her face heat up.

   "T-Thank y-you," Marinette stuttered, shyly looking away and scuffling her foot on the ground.

   "It was no problem at all," Adrien replied before his phone vibrated within his jean's pocket. He pulled the device out and quickly scanned the message from his bodyguard, who was waiting outside.